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the Virgin Mary. Click here to see comments
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News from Around the
World
ZENIT
John Paul II Entrusts Peace of World to Virgin Mary
At Open-Air Ceremony in Piazza di Spagna
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 9, 2001 (Zenit.org)
John Paul II expressed words of sadness and concern Friday when he
entrusted the peace of the world to the Immaculate Conception. "Dark clouds
gather on the horizon of the world," the Pope said. "Humanity, which
greeted the dawn of the third millennium with hope, now feels overwhelmed by the
threat of new and disconcerting conflicts." The Holy Father's words were
part of a prayer he recited on his knees, before the historic statue of the
Immaculate Conception, in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. "Peace in the world is
endangered," the Pontiff said, as he prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This is why "we come to you, Immaculate Virgin, to ask you to obtain, as an
understanding and strong Mother, that spirits, freed from the smoke of hatred,
be open to mutual forgiveness, constructive solidarity and peace." More
than 10,000 people attended the open-air ceremony, including top city officials.
The Holy Father proposed Christian commitment as a source of hope, given the
current grave situation. "Every believer, in his own circumstances of
life," must become a sign "so that all will see clearly that fidelity
to Christ changes one's personal life and augurs for a future of peace, a better
future for all," he concluded.
Virgin of Fatima Did Not Predict Sept. 11 Attacks, Vatican Aide Says
Denial of Rumors Circulating About the Third Secret
LISBON, Portugal, DEC. 10, 2001 (Zenit.org)
The third Fatima secret did not include the announcement of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, a Vatican official told Portuguese radio.
Archbishop
Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
on Friday told Radio Renascenca of an interview he had with the surviving
visionary of the Fatima apparitions, Carmelite Sister Lucia, 95.
The interview is
about to be published in L'Osservatore Romano. Archbishop Bertone met with
Sister Lucia at the request of John Paul II, in order to learn the truth about
rumors of new apparitions of the Virgin to the Portuguese religious. These
rumors, which originated in Italy and France and have been circulating since
October, claimed that the third secret of Fatima had not been totally revealed.
The archbishop said he obtained "personally the denial of all those rumors
and information."
"In a word, Sister Lucia denies all the
rumors attributed to her," the archbishop told the Portuguese radio
station. The Pope was immediately informed of the nun's denial. Sister Lucia's
cloistered convent, the Carmel of Coimbra, has already published its own denial
of the rumors, Archbishop Bertone said.
Virgin Mary
Seen as a Model for All Muslims
Interview with
Islamic Theologian Sherazade Hushmand
ROME, DEC. 10,
2001 (Zenit.org)
Muslims venerate Mary, the Pope reminded the faithful Sunday during his Angelus
address. Iranian Muslim theologian Sherazade Hushmand affirms that view.
There are verses
in the Koran that include a significant prayer to God by Mary's mother, Hushmand
explained in this interview with Vatican Radio.
--Q: Of what
significance is the figure of Mary to Muslims?
--Hushmand: She
is very present in the Koran, which presents her, specifically, as Mary
Immaculate. In the third sura, beginning with verse 34 and subsequent ones, the
Koran speaks about this aspect of Mary, about her total purity.
Speaking of
Mary, one of the verses talks about freedom. The woman of Hemram, who is Mary's
mother, prays to God saying: "God, I dedicate to you the one I have in the
womb, and I dedicate her so that she will be free, absolutely free."
This word is
used only once in the Koran, and only for Mary. This freedom is an absolute
freedom from all what might be seen as sin, evil, failure, weakness. Mary is
pure of all this. Then comes God's affirmation: "I accept her."
--Q: Do all
followers of Islam believe this?
--Hushmand: In
Chapter 66, the last verse, 12, the Koran says: "Do you want me to give you
a faithful example to follow, valid for all the world's believers?" Mary is
proposed there as the example. This is very strong -- because not only is Mary
an example and a symbol for Christians to follow, but also in the Koran, Mary
becomes a symbol and model for all believers, also for Muslims themselves.
--Q: And what
does this mean in everyday life?
--Hushmand: To
have hope, to have a model to follow, to have such a pure woman to look up to
and to go forward, a woman who had complete confidence in God. She is the
example of confidence, total confidence in the Absolute, in the God who is
Supreme Perfection and Beauty.
This is how we
follow her, always having confidence, even in difficulties and in face of things
we cannot understand.
Like her, who
was asked to have a Son -- the Koran says -- without a material father, a
physical father, and she trusted and went ahead. So, like her, we take her as
model and trust God totally, including in difficult and hard moments of life.
Basilica of
Guadalupe’s Web Page Activated by Pope
Most-Visited
Shrine Will Now Receive Virtual Pilgrims
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 12, 2001 (Zenit.org)
For the first
time, a Pope has activated a Web page: the official Internet site of the
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. In a brief ceremony at the end
of the general audience today, John Paul II pushed the key of a portable
computer, inaugurating Web site
http://www.virgendeguadalupe.org.mx.
"With the
new site, the message of Guadalupe can go even farther, helping those who search
for meaning in their lives and reasons for hope," the Pontiff explained.
"Let us
pray to Our Lady that this new form of communication make her consoling
protection more widely visible, especially to the poor and marginalized and
that, with the diffusion of the mestizo Guadalupan image, fraternity among races
be given impetus, dialogue among cultures be increased, and peace be
promoted," the Holy Father added.
The most-visited
shrine in the world, the basilica in Mexico City attracts more than 20 million
pilgrims a year.
Last Sunday,
Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico, confirmed that John Paul
II on Dec. 20 would recognize officially a miracle attributed to the
intercession of Blessed Juan Diego, the Indian who witnessed the apparitions.
Blessed Juan could be canonized a saint next year.
Work on
Nazareth Mosque Halted, for Now, Says Israeli
ROME, DEC. 12,
2001 (Zenit.org)
Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres said his government has halted,
for now, construction on the controversial mosque in Nazareth. "We are
profoundly conscious of the concern of Christians over the construction of the
Nazareth mosque, and we are trying to find a way not to wound this
position," Peres said on the Telepace television station here. "For
now, we have postponed the construction, with the objective of finding a
compromise or an alternative," the Nobel Peace Prize recipient added.
"We will do all we can, not to wound the feelings of the Christian
world." He continued: "We have very much appreciated the Pope's appeal
against terrorism, in the Message for the Day of Peace. He says that terrorism
and kamikaze suicides are a sin against the Lord and against man. It is an
ethical appeal."
Peres was
visiting Italy on Tuesday to meet with political authorities. Scheduling
conflicts ruled out a meeting with John Paul II, according to Peres and Vatican
spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls.
6 Million
Pilgrims Converge for Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Including
Thousands from Chiapas
MEXICO CITY,
DEC. 13, 2001 (Zenit.org)
Some 6 million
people visited the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Tuesday and Wednesday
to celebrate the feast of the Virgin of Tepeyac.
Hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims gathered late Tuesday and early Wednesday in the shrine,
located in the north of the Mexican capital, to sing the traditional "Las
Mañanitas" to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas.
Many had
traveled more than 1,000 kilometers in uncomfortable buses, carrying blankets,
food and water, as well as banners and statues of the Virgin Mary.
Among the
faithful was a group of Tzotziles Indians from the state of Chiapas. The leader
of the group was José Sántiz Pérez, 43, a native of the community of Natipé
Las Casas.
During their
communal prayer, Sántiz appealed to all Indians in general to pray for Chiapas,
and for peace, justice and reconciliation.
He was just one
of the thousands of Chiapas pilgrims who, since Dec. 1, have traveled over the
roads, paths and pavements of that state to be at the Virgin Mary's basilica to
thank her and to pray to "the Mother of Mexicans" on her feast day,
Dec. 12.
The church of
Guadalupe was built at the request of the Virgin Mary herself, when she appeared
to Indian Juan Diego in 1531, and left her image imprinted on his mantle. To
date, no scientific studies have concluded how the image was imprinted.
On Dec. 20, John
Paul II is expected to approve the decree officially recognizing a miracle
attributed to Blessed Juan Diego. His canonization could follow next year.
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Marian Events
This section lists all of the current
Marian Events by
geographical position.
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New Resources
We've added answers to two new questions submitted by readers.
A section on
international stamps with images of Mary has been added to our Resources
index.
The latest added was Dominican Republic. Expect more countries to
follow.
Also,
"Hail Mary!: Titles of Our Lady" has been restored to the
Resources menu and a new feature, an
on-line coloring book about Mary for children was added.
We've posted memorials to three long-time faculty members
who died recently:
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Mary in the Secular
Press
The director and editors of Mary Page under the auspices of the International Marian Research
Institute do not necessarily endorse or agree with the events and ideas expressed in this feature.
Our sole purpose is to report on items about Mary gleaned from a myriad of papers representing
the secular press.
Commentary on Mary in various news articles from Nov. 29 - Dec. 13.
- Celebration of the feast of the Virgin of
Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, on December 12 was widely reported
early in December. The Blessed Mother appeared to an Indian named Juan Diego
in 1531, asking him to tell church officials she wanted a shrine built in
her honor at the site of her appearance. It was only after he filled his
cloak with roses growing out of season in the area as a sign of Our Lady’s
divinity and brought them to the bishop that the bishop honored her request
and began construction of the shrine.
Among the articles appearing in the press in
California and other states as well as Mexico:
- The Los Angeles Times Home Edition December
3 said that hundreds turned out Sunday, December 2, for the annual kickoff
of the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The celebration began 10 days
prior to her actual feast day with a large procession through the streets.
The Orange County Edition on December 3 noted that the Virgin Mary smiled
down on the streets of Santa Ana not just once, but four times, at several
corners along 4th Street and near a band shell, as portions of
the drama of her appearance were reenacted.
- The Modesto Bee said on December 4 that the
Diocese of Stockton would host its annual parade in honor of the Virgin of
Guadalupe December 9. Last year the procession drew 4,000 people.
- The Orange County Register on December 6 told of
a large outdoor display dedicated to the Virgin Mary that Toribio Olguin has
been erecting each year for the past five years. It has to do with “la
manda,” the promise that he made seven years ago to the Virgin of
Guadalupe after a car wreck left him unable to walk without support for 16
months. He asked the Virgin Mary to help heal him and promised her that he
would build an altar in the days leading up to the celebrations for the
feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
- The Riverside, CA Press-Enterprise on
December 9 told of the pilgrimage the previous day from the Our Lady of
Guadalupe Shrine to the top of Mount Rubidoux in celebration of Our Lady’s
feast day.
- The Monterey County Herald on December 12
described church ceremonies honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe that included
mariachi music, dance and food. As many as 850 persons, some of them
children dressed as the Indian Juan Diego, were expected to crowd into
Sacred Heart Church in Salinas for the Guadalupe Mass.
- The Tampa Tribune on December 8 (Feast of
the Immaculate Conception) told of festivities celebrating the Feast of Our
Lady of Guadalupe beginning Sunday and continuing through Wednesday,
December 12, at St. Cecelia’s Church. The parish has several hundred
Hispanic parishioners, most of Mexican descent, but more than 1,000 people
were expected to attend the events.
- The Vero Beach, FL., Press Journal on December 11
said that the celebration the following day would begin with the singing of
“Las Mananitas,” a birthday tune in honor of Mary, at 5 a.m. at Our Lady
of Guadalupe mission. Many were expected to take off work to celebrate the
feast day.
- The Fort Worth Star Telegram on December 12
said “Catholics are celebrating the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
today.” This year’s celebration included “international” music,
featuring Van Cliburn competitor Anton Mordasov from Russia, singers from
the island of Tonga and performers from Mexico. “Church officials are
taking it upon themselves to spread the image of Mary as a loving,
compassionate mother who intercedes with God on behalf of all people,” the
paper said.
- The Dubuque, IA, Telegraph Herald December 8
wrote about the apparitions in 1531 and listed a schedule of events for the
celebration at St. Patrick Church the following day, and on December 10
described the celebration, which included a procession, Mass and communal
dinner.
- The Albuquerque Journal on December 10 told
about the Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass and procession Sunday that was part of
the 77th annual festival celebrating the appearance of the Virgin
Mary to Juan Diego.
- Global News Wire on December 10 said that some
200,000 Roman Catholic faithful visited the Mexican basilica dedicated to
the Virgin of Guadalupe that weekend as a prelude to Wednesday’s
celebration of her feast day.
- The Dallas Morning News on December 13 told of
pilgrims coming to the Basilica in Mexico City, many of them walking for
miles, many of them pre-teens and teenagers who said they were inspired by
the Virgin of Guadalupe on her feast day. Millions of people were expected
to visit the basilica, located along with other chapels on the site where
Our Lady of Guadalupe is first said to have appeared to Juan Diego.
- Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
was honored with a grand Marian procession to the Manila Cathedral December
2, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on December 9. Mary was honored by
the military, in keeping with tradition that began during Spanish times, and
at least 60 images of the Blessed Virgin under her many titles were paraded
in resplendent carrozas.
-
The “On this day” feature of the Sydney Daily
Telegraph on December 8 said that in 1854 “Pope Pius IX settles the Immaculate
Conception controversy by declaring the Virgin Mary was preserved from all sin
when she was born.”
- Bosnian children, many orphaned and injured
during years of civil war, may get the assistance they need to restore their
hearing thanks to the singular efforts of a Rodeo, CA., woman, the Contra
Costa Times said on November 30. Anna
Marie Maagdenberg set off earlier in November on her 20th trip to
Bosnia to open a state of the art audiology clinic staffed by doctors from
several nations, the culmination of a six-year medical mission inspired by
her personal pilgrimage to the site of a reported vision of the Virgin Mary.
The clinic is part of A Mother’s Village, a residential complex that
includes a school in a village two miles outside Medjugorje, built by
international agencies in the last decade. “Mother” is a reference to
the Virgin Mary, who is said to have appeared to a group of children on a
hillside outside Mejudgorje in 1981. Maagdenberg, who is a registered nurse,
has examined and treated people with hearing problems during previous trips.
She will teach local medical people to use the donated medical equipment.
- Leaders of the main Christian denominations in
the Holy Land have demanded Israel halt the building of a mosque beside the
Basilica of the Annunciation, accusing the government of trying to sow
religious tension in its handling of a dispute over construction of the
mosque, the Associated Press said on November 29. Christians believe the
church stands on the spot where the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she
would give birth to Jesus. A prominent priest in Jerusalem said that
construction workers digging at the site hauled away human bones and pillars
that may have come from a first-century church or synagogue.
- On December 1 the London Times reported that in a
new protest heads of the 13 main Christian churches in Jerusalem urged
Israel to revoke a decision to let the mosque be built near the Basilica of
the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel’s largest Arab town. Christian
leaders in Israel have accused its government of treating “with virtual
contempt” worldwide Church protests of plans to build the mosque.
- The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, was probably a
shame-filled unwed mother. That’s just a taste of the Bible speculation
running through the quasi-titillating “Jesus: the Complete Story,” set
to air for the first time in Canada December 9, the Vancouver Sun wrote on
December 8. The three-hour BBC documentary aired in the U.S. and Britain
before Easter. The show tries to sidestep offending conservative Christians
by playing it both ways, the review said, for example suggesting that the
Mother Mary may have actually been a virgin. The documentary tries for the
facts, and in doing so misses the point, according to the story’s
headline.
The Santa Fe Pro Musica delivered a rare and
magnificent gift December 7, wrapped in the solemn beauty of Santa Fe’s St.
Francis Cathedral, the Albuquerque Journal wrote on December 9. Claudio
Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 came vividly to life in the hands and voices of a
large array of able musicians guided with discerning sensitivity by conductor
Kenneth Slowik. As the rich aural feast fell upon the ears, the reviewer said,
it was difficult to imagine that these Vespers of the Virgin Mary were once
considered radical for a sacred setting.
“Carols have a long,
wondrous tradition” headlined a story in the December 6 Greensboro, NC News
and Record. The carol harkens from the Middle Ages and often the text had to
do with the Virgin Mary or some other aspect of Christmas. Each country had
its own version and many of the carols were penned by famous classical
composers.
“Lord of the Rings” author Tolkien, an
orphan, was brought up by priests of the Birmingham Oratory and as a child
would have heard such anthems as Ave Stella Maris and the Salve Regina, the
London Daily Telegraph wrote on November 30. Some of the phrases may be
variants of the language in his book. The writer concludes: “I am not saying
that Elbereth is the Blessed Virgin Mary; but they are mythic analogues.”
The story of Mary and the angel Gabriel is
the beginning of the Christmas story so beloved among Christians, a story that
involved talk of peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, the Wisconsin State
Journal said on December 8. The article continued in part: All over the world
that the angel Gabriel visited, bombs are exploding and children are dying. If
we are hoping to find individual peace and fulfillment in our lives, we will
have to do so in this world of violence, fear and mistrust. Mary and Joseph
found peace in doing what they knew was right. Peace comes only through facing
the world as it is.
A daylong nationwide strike to protest increasingly radical economic
policies implemented by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ended without
incident, Agence France Presse said on December 11. “As of this moment, for
the love of the Virgin Mary, back to work!” proclaimed Pedro Carmona, the
head of Fedecamaras, the country’s alliance of chambers of commerce, which
called the strike the previous day.
A judge set a mental competency hearing for a man accused of beheading a
statue of the Virgin Mary at a Culver City church and removing another statue
from its pedestal and leaving it at a mosque, the City News Service of Los
Angeles said on December 5. The criminal complaint filed against Emad Ibrahim
Saad of Los Angeles alleges that the October 2 vandalism at St. Augustine
Church was a hate crime.
A multimillion dollar organization that promotes visions of the Virgin
Mary is fighting charges of being a destructive cult as religious pilgrims
from across the nation arrive at its Alabama compound seeking spiritual
renewal, the Associated Press said on December 12. Five former residents of
Caritas of Birmingham have filed suit in state court seeking an unspecified
amount of money from the group and its founder, Terry Colafrancesco,
claiming Colafrancesco lures people into Caritas with promises of spiritual
enrichment and then drains them of money. Caritas, dedicated to spreading
the messages of Medjugorje, thrived after Marija Lunetti, one of six young
people who claimed Mary appeared to them in 1981 in Medjugorje, visited
Alabama in 1981 to donate a kidney to her ailing brother. Lunetti was
expected to arrive at Caritas shortly after the suit was filed.
Nelson police appealed to the public for help in recovering a 1.5m
concrete statue of the Virgin Mary stolen from the Sisters of Our Lady of
the Missions convent, the Nelson Evening Mail wrote on December 7.
An appeal for funds for the SUNshine Fund of the
Salvation Army in the December 7 issue of the Calgary Sun begins: “My middle
name is Mary and I have given birth to a boy, but truthfully I still can’t
claim that I really identify with the Virgin Mary in the Christmas story.” The
writer can, however, relate to the plight of the innkeeper that Christmas eve in
Bethlehem, who found the strength to care and offered a stable with a lowly
manger, changing more lives for the better than he could have ever imagined.
That’s what the SUNshine Fund is about, the writer says, giving even when you
think you have nothing left to offer and changing many lives for the better.
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Prayer Corner
Requests
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Prayer Corner intentions.
Please take a look! This site has been updated and enhanced and now allows
users to directly submit prayer requests or to volunteer as a prayer partner for
these intentions!
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